Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 4, 2005

An Orca jumping out of the water

The orca is the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. It is the second-most widely distributed mammal on Earth (after humans) and is found in all the world's oceans. It is also a versatile predator, eating fish, turtles, birds, seals, sharks and even other juvenile and small cetaceans. This puts the orca at the pinnacle of the marine food chain. The orca is also commonly known as the "killer whale"—a name which reflects the animal's reputation as a magnificent and fearsome sea mammal whose existence was first recorded by Pliny the Elder. Today it is recognized that the orca is neither a whale nor a danger to humans; no attack on a human by an orca in the wild has ever been recorded. (more...)

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